Mini Potters feed the birds with a winter craft

Today was the first session this year for Mini Potters at Fired 4 U. We run this session to encourage the very young from about 14 months upwards to just before they go to school to try out crafts and pottery painting. They are of course welcome to come to the studio for arty fun at any time, this is just a special session for their age group.

Today our story was about a naughty bear who didn’t want to go to sleep for the winter because he wanted to catch another fish to fill his tummy. In catching the fish he fell through the ice on the lake! He did get rescued by another bear so all ended well. This gave a valuable lesson to us all with all the ice about at the moment.

We then made an interesting Bird feeder to help our winter birds. I cut rice cakes into Bear shapes using a cookie cutter, you could use other shapes or just use the cakes in the round shape in which they come. (The scraps left over from this are on my bird table now so not to waste them.)

Then poke a hole very gently through the rice cake – I gently ‘screwed’ a bamboo skewer through ours. Then thread string through and tie it into a loop to hang off a branch.

Mini potter bird feeders - you can see the uncovered one in the centre

Now spread one side of the rice cake with vegetable fat or lard or the dripping left over from your roast potatoes / veg. Then dip the fatty side into a bowl of loose bird seed and give it a good wiggle in this to get the seeds pressed into the fat. Now repeat on the other side of the cake. You can of course do the edges too.

This gives you a fun bird seed cake to hang up in the garden then sit and wait for the birds to come.

The Mini Potters today thought it was great fun and were hoping to do more at home -sucess! We then painted a pottery piece which was a bear with hat and scarf on to keep warm in the winter, hugging a little pot at his side, ideal for a candle or sweetie treats. One today was even destined as a gift for a Grandma – brilliant idea.

The glazed bears!

Teddy Bird feeder in Jane's Garden this morning ready for the birds!

If you would like to join us next time just give us a call on 01772 203060 to book your place on our session – first Thursday of the month.

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